The next time Touya woke up, it was to the sound of muffled crying. Slowly, he cracked his eyes open though they were swollen. The left one was completely swollen shut while his right eye opened halfway, and everything was blurry. He would be more worried about permanent damage to his eyes if it wasn't for the fact that, at this point, he was more used to his eyes being swollen than not.
He saw red first and his heart rate picked up. He was scared. Why would his father be in his room, crying of all things? It would be more expected if his father's flaming beard was present, looking over Touya, his glare the first thing he saw when he woke up, it had happened before after all, mostly before Shouto's quirk presented itself, but it wasn't.
It was then that he saw white as well. There were only two people in his whole family it could be and Fuyumi didn't cry like that. Not unless it was in the comfort of her own room where Touya would occasionally sneak in to comfort her.
Touya got up, ignoring his aching and screaming muscles in favour of making sure his little brother was okay. He leaned his weight on his left elbow, fire pooling in his abdomen at the motion, and placed his right hand on Shouto's head for comfort. Touya couldn't tell if the comfort was more for him or for Shouto. He thinks it might be a little bit of both.
Even as he spoke, Touya knew that the reason his younger brother was crying, hell, the reason why anyone in his family cries, was Endeavour. It always is.
"Hey buddy, why are you crying?" Touya keeps his voice soft and gentle as he speaks, trying to mimic the comfort he gets on the rare occasion his mother will speak to him like that anymore, but Touya doesn't think it sounds quite as nice. It doesn't matter anyway, as long as he can keep the anger out of his voice, another reason he and Endeavor are so, so similar, as long as he can make Shouto feel at ease, then it's alright, no matter how ridiculous his voice sounds.
Shouto lifted his head, and it was only then that Touya saw the wet bandages on Shouto's hands and arms.
"I was training with Daddy, but it hurt so I started crying and Daddy started yelling more. Then, Mommy came in and yelled at Daddy and Daddy hit Mommy and left." Shouto said, still sniffing and trying to wipe away his tears.
Anger coursed through Touya. "Hey, Shouto, do you know where Mom is?" Touya asked while sitting up properly. He doesn't even register the pain he knows he's in, too concerned for his mother and brother to care.
It's all his fault. He shouldn't have passed out, why did he pass out? Mom and Shouto were hurt because he was too weak to do anything but whine about how he was a little hurt. This was all his fault. His breathing started to pick up slightly but he couldn't have a panic attack right now, Shouto was hurt and so was Mom, Mom is unstable right now, he needs to stop acting like a five-year-old. Touya is fifteen while Shouto is only six and he's not freaking out so why is Touya?
Luckily, Shouto didn't notice Touya's mini panic attack and just nodded. "In her room."
Touya got out of bed, his legs buckling slightly but he catches himself before he can fall, and lifts Shouto in his arms.
"Do you wanna come with me little guy?" Shouto nods again, burying his face in Touya's shoulder, finding comfort in his older brother, the only person he ever saw other than his mother and father.
His arms and legs, and pretty much everything scream in protest with every step he takes, and in the back of Touya's head, a place he'll never let anyone see, ever, he knows what's going to happen and he almost doesn't want to go make sure Rei is okay. But he ignores that ever growing part, Rei is his mom, she was the one who protected him his whole life, is still protecting him, it's about time he started to try and repay her, even a little.
